


A Softer Ending and A New Beginning

by JustNick612



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death Fix, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Fix-It, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:55:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27651662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustNick612/pseuds/JustNick612
Summary: I think most of us can agree that the ending of Supernatural left many of us unhappy for more than just one reason so... here, take my attempt at fixing the dumpster fire that was 15x20. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. Too fluffy? That’s fine. I just needed something after that mess of emotions... hope you enjoy.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Michael/Adam Milligan
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	1. Prologue

“Jack, wait. I know you don’t want to be hands on but do you think you could just-”

Jack cut Sam off, nodding calmly, as he knew exactly what the younger Winchester was trying to ask of him.

“Already done. One last time. From now on, whatever happens naturally happens. I have brought everyone back so they can have a fair shot. Go find her.”

Sam nodded now and said nothing more. Jack turned to look at Dean, who had been staring at him in silence. It was clear to him that the elder Winchester had something to ask him as well.

“Yes Dean?”

“When you say ‘everyone,’ does that include non-humans?”

“Yes. I need as many angels to help me fix the things Chuck had broken. In performing my reset, I also restored the beings that may be less than desirable… but I want you two to do whatever will make you happy. You are free… go.”

“Cas…” Dean managed to say.

“He will find you. I need him for now,” Jack paused a moment, his eyes scanning the two one last time before holding up his hand in his normal gesture, “goodbye.”

Jack turned and walked down the road slowly before dissipating into thin air, leaving the brothers to gather themselves and go do as they wish.

* * *

When they returned to the bunker, two familiar bodies and one unfamiliar greeted them.

“Sam…”

Sam raced from the car and embraced Eileen tightly, looking as if he would never let her go. Dean walked over slowly and stared at the other face that he recognized.

“Adam…”

“Hey Dean…”

After a somewhat awkward moment, Dean grabbed his youngest brother’s body and pulled it into his with one arm, hugging him. Adam held to his jacket tightly.

“I’m so glad you get another chance…” he murmured, “and I’m sorry for never coming to save you.”

“No… let’s not talk about that. It’s time to close those books and write our own.” The voice was not that of his brother, making Dean look up and over at the remaining of the trio, the dark haired man that he had never seen before.

“Wh- Michael?” He asked as he pulled away from Adam and the unfamiliar man nodded. Sam turned to look as well, still close to Eileen, who smiled.

“How?”

“When Jack saved all the angels from the Empty, I was one of them… I told Jack that I needed some time away from Heaven to heal but if he needed help, I would always answer his call. He respected it. Now, I’m here with Adam because… well, he was the one who kept me grounded for all those years. The moment he left me thanks to… Chuck, I lost my way again. I fell back into the toxic cycle of my relationship with my father. We all get a new start, a choice. I choose to go wherever Adam goes and make my life as Cas had with you for such a long time. Adam is my home.”

Adam smiled softly and put his hand on Michael’s shoulder affectionately. Sam nodded and Dean just stared.

“All the angels in the Empty? So… Lucifer?” He asked carefully.

“Yes,” Michael nodded, “Lucifer and I talked for quite a while and I believe he has found the error in his ways just as I have. Both of us realize now how our father affected us and we wish to be our own beings. Lucifer is working with Jack, Cas and the other angels right now in repairing Heaven.”

“Well… Adam, you are more than welcome to stay with us in the bunker and I guess that extends to you too, Michael,” Dean replied, still sort of uneasy.

“Thank you, Dean.” Adam said, Michael nodding in agreement.

* * *

Later that night, once the others were asleep, Dean found himself outside, leaning against Baby to drink and look up at the stars. After some silence, he sighed and prayed out loud.

“Hey Cas… I know you’re busy but I hope you have your ears on because I really need to talk to you. Please, even if it’s just five minutes.”

More silence passed while Dean waited. As had happened many times, the soft whooshing sound came from beside him.

“Hello Dean…”

The gravelly voice made Dean breathe out all the tension that remained in his body as he pushed off from Baby and turned to face his angel.

“Hey Cas…”

They walked closer to one another and stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like forever before Cas broke the silence.

“What can I do for you, Dean?”

“Oh don’t give me that crap, Cas… you know what you’re here for. I just…” Dean trailed off before simply grabbing a fistful of Cas’s trench coat and pulling the other man into a tight embrace. He felt Cas melt into his warmth and just exhaled slowly as he closed his eyes.

“God dammit Cas… how could you think-” Dean’s words caught in his throat and he shook his head slightly against Cas’s shoulder as he gathered himself again, “You ass… I do too.”

“Pardon?” Cas pulled back and looked at Dean with that confused head tilt that he knew so well.

“You’re really gonna make me say it? After all that? Fine, I guess you deserve as much after that stupid act of heroism…” Dean sucked in a breath between his teeth, swallowing to try and relieve the ball of nerves he felt in his chest, “I love you too, you moron.”

“I…” Cas began but Dean cut him off.

“How could you think I didn’t? Dammit, how could I think you couldn’t? Screw it, no more of this ridiculous dancing around it. See? I love you, man. I… I love you, Castiel.”

Dean caught Cas’s blue gaze with his green and after a few stunned moments, Cas moved closer again, closing the gap between them to place an apprehensive kiss on Dean’s lips. The man matched the angel’s apprehension at first but did not pull away. After a moment, Dean’s tension slipped away and his hands went to Cas’s hips as Dean deepened the kiss. They broke apart finally but remained with their foreheads pressed together in a comfortable silence.

* * *

“You know everything will be fine, right?” Adam said when he noticed his brother nervously twisting the ring on his finger, “There’s no need to be worried. Eileen’s pregnancy has been completely normal.”

“Worried? I’m not worried,” Dean replied as Cas and Adam exchanged knowing looks, Cas putting his hand on Dean’s wrist comfortingly.

“Right…” Adam shook his head, holding in a chuckle.

“Adam’s correct. The chance of something going wrong in this stage is so infinitesimal that-” Michael went to speak but Adam shushed him quietly, tapping his knee. Only a few moments later, Sam emerged into the waiting room. The four stood expectantly and a smile lit Sam’s face.

“He’s here… and he’s beautiful.” Dean was first to embrace his brother in congratulations, followed by Adam, then Cas, then Michael.

“How is Eileen? Can we see them?” Dean asked and Sam nodded.

“They only want three people in at a time so I can only take two of you.”

Cas and Michael nodded and smiled, sitting back down to wait. Dean and Adam followed Sam back to the room and were greeted by a tired but happy looking Eileen with a bundle in her arms. She looked up at them and smiled as they came over.

“Hi… oh my God…” Adam murmured as he gave Eileen a sort of quick one armed hug as best he could.

“Guys… meet John Robert Winchester,” Sam said as Adam moved to allow Dean a chance as well. Dean bent over to kiss his sister-in-law’s sweaty hair and stared down at the small infant in her arms.

“Hi there buddy… welcome to the family.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twenty-five years have passed since Sam and Dean defeated God and got their loved ones back. After finally being able to escape the life of hunting, the group all settled down and started families. Everything has been the normal apple pie life for this long but what happens when something goes wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I found some motivation to actually continue this is anyone is interested. I have a plot idea for a sequel of sorts that will follow the kids of all of them and how they become hunters. I hope it interests you all :)
> 
> Here’s a list of the kids if you guys need it.  
> \- J.R. (John Robert): 22 years old, Sam and Eileen’s son  
> \- Mary: 21 years old, Dean and Cas’s daughter  
> \- Katie: 19 years old, Adam and Michael’s daughter  
> \- Henry: 18 years old, Dean and Cas’s son  
> \- Lillie: 15 years old, Sam and Eileen’s daughter (not mentioned in this chapter but she exists lol)

** P.O.V. Of Henry **

“Yeah, there should be empty boxes down in the basement that you can use,” my father’s voice lingered in from the other room. I sighed and looked at all my piles. That would probably be a better idea.

“Okay, thanks Dad, I’ll go look.” I left my room and saw no sight of my father as I headed down the first set of stairs to get to the first floor. I heard him call out to be again. It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen.

“When your father gets home, he can help you pack everything into the car.”

I poked my head around the corner, ready to jokingly ask if he thought Pops would let me finally drive the car, only to see my father reading something on his laptop, his eyes squinted as he did when he was confused or concerned. His dark hair was messy as well, making me wonder what exactly it was that had his attention.

“What’s up, Dad?” I asked, making my way over to see an email from my Aunt Eileen.

“Eileen says that J.R. hasn’t spoken to them in almost two weeks, which isn’t like him. She’s a bit concerned,” my father explained.

“Huh… that is weird. Has she tried texting Mary or Katie?” I asked him and my father sighed.

“Katie hadn’t seen him at the diner in a while and Mary hadn't seen him in that time either but she just assumed he was busy studying for his finals like she had been.”

“That’s… not good,” I murmured.

“Yes, which is why Eileen was checking in here to see if J.R. had come here by any chance. I told her we haven’t seen him and to contact police to file a missing person’s report. Your uncle is apparently very worried but didn’t want your father finding out so if you can keep this conversation between us, I would greatly appreciate that, understood?” My father looked at me with a stern seriousness in his blue eyes and I furrowed my brow.

“Why wouldn’t Uncle Sam want Pops to know about something this serious? If something happened to J.R. then-”

“Henry,” my father cut me off, “enough. Just please respect your uncle’s wishes. Now go finish packing.”

“Yes Dad.” I nodded and left him so I could go down to the basement. I went to the back corner where Pops kept the boxes from when we had moved into this house all those years ago. I checked through some to see if I could combine contents and take some for my things. I was able to move some dusty old books into less boxes but my curiosity got piqued when I stumbled upon one that was unlike the rest. This one wasn't a hardcover or a paperback, but leatherbound and seemed to be a journal of sorts. I paused for a moment and leafed through the pages, my curiousness turned to confusion at what I saw. There was a lot of handwriting in a messy scrawl along with drawings of strange symbols and weird creatures that looked to be straight out of some horror movie storyboard. There were pages of books and newspaper clippings about deaths dating back to anywhere from fifty to one hundred years ago, some maybe more.

“What the hell?” I mumbled out loud as I tried to make sense of even a word of this.

“Henry? Did you find some boxes that you could use?” My father’s voice called down to me, making me jump and close the journal quickly.

“Uh, yeah! I found some,” I called back up to him, then tucked the journal in one of the boxes before putting the rest of the boxes inside that one, to hide the journal from plain sight. If Dad knew I was going through Pops’s old books he wouldn’t be happy but I had to know what in the world this was all about. Maybe Mary or Katie would know something.

* * *

A few hours later, I found myself in the car with my fathers, all my things packed in the trunk and the back along with me. That journal I had discovered was now hidden away in my backpack that lay at my feet as I texted the group chat between me, my sister Mary, and our cousin Katie.

 **H:** _Guys I’m telling you, it’s all shit straight out of a horror movie._

 **K:** _Henry, calm down. We can look at it when you get here._

 **M:** _Oh my Goddd, Pops will be so pissed if he finds out that you went through his stuff._

My sister’s words made me nervous, as I knew she was right. Instead of addressing her text, I changed the subject. Luckily, it worked and the three of us got onto the topic of our missing cousin.

 **H:** _I still can’t believe J.R. is missing… where could he be?_

 **M:** _I don’t know… God, why didn’t I say anything when I hadn’t heard from him?_

 **K:** _It’s not your fault Mary… they’ll find him. They gotta._

“Henry, are you listening?”

“Huh? Sorry Dad, I was texting Mary and Katie to let them know we were on our way.” I looked up but before Dad could repeat what he said, Pops chuckled and spoke.

“Cas, relax… Henry will be fine. Mary’s smart and she and Katie have lived together for almost three years now. I know you’re worried since the last one leaving the nest, but everything will be just like normal.” Pops put a hand on Dad’s knee comfortingly and gave him that affectionate smile that Dad seemed to always melt at.

“Of course, Dean…” Dad said, smiling back. Though, with the information about J.R.’s disappearance still fresh in my mind, I knew that my move was not the only thing that Dad was grappling with. I still didn’t understand why he wouldn’t want Pops knowing but I knew not to disobey.

“That being said, you promise to still call us weekly like Mary does?”

“If Mary calls weekly, can’t I just talk to you then?” I asked and I saw Pops giving me his disapproving look through the rearview mirror.

“Henry, just do as your father asks. You know it makes him more comfortable. Got it?”

“Yes sir,” I nodded and Pops seemed satisfied by this.

“Thank you… love you Kiddo.” He said and I smiled, albeit sadly, suddenly feeling emotional at the thought of leaving my parents.

“Love you too, Pops. You too, Dad.”

Dad smiled at me, then he and Pops got into some conversation. This allowed me to turn my attention back to my group chat.

 **M:** _You there, Hen?_

 **K:** _Henry??_

 **H:** _Yeah, sorry I’m here. Dad and Pops were just talking to me. What’s up?_

 **M:** _We were just talking about the last time we had seen J.R…. you talk to him a lot right?_

 **H:** _Yeah but not recently. We haven’t talked since the last week of April because he told me he needed to focus on studying for his finals._

 **M:** _That’s what he told me. And Katie said she saw him doing late nights at the diner studying whenever he wasn’t in the library. Right Kay?_

 **K:** _Yeah, but then a little over a week ago I stopped seeing him so I just assumed the diner wasn’t helping him focus. He was really stressed about his exams since it’s his final year._

 **M:** _We should have paid better attention to him._

 **H:** _Mar, it’s not your fault…_

 **K:** _Yeah, J’s a big boy, he can handle himself._

 **M:** _Well apparently not if something happened to him._

 **K:** _Stop it, I’m sure nothing happened to him…_

 **M:** _Then why isn’t he answering anyone’s texts or calls? His phone is either off or dead, Kay!_

 **K:** _That doesn’t mean he is!_

 **H:** _Guys come on… this isn’t going to solve anything. Dad said that he told Aunt Eileen to fill a missing person’s report._

 **M:** _That’s a good idea… but I’m still worried. This isn’t like him. His finals are next week. He wouldn’t disappear on his own volition like that with his whole life riding on these tests._

 **K:** _I get it… sorry if I made it seem like I didn’t care because I promise, I do. I just hate feeling helpless._

 **H:** _Well, maybe we can try and look for him when I get there. There has to be someone who knows something. Anything…_

 **M:** _I can try reaching out to his best friend and see if he’s heard from him. After that… I’m not sure._

 **K:** _Maybe his professors?_

 **H:** _Maybe we can go to campus security and see if we can track him on his computer login or emails or with the cameras or something._

 **M:** _Good idea. We’ll start looking into it. Just let us know when you’re close so we can meet you guys at the apartment._

 **H:** _You got it._

* * *

Some time later, night had fallen and we were getting into town. I had texted the group chat a bit of time ago and when the three of us pulled up to the apartments, Mary and Katie were waiting at their door.

“Dad! Pops!” Mary ran forward and hugged them both as Katie hugged me, then Mary hugged me.

“Hey Henry! Hi Uncle Dean, Uncle Cas… it’s good to see you,” Katie said as she hugged my fathers.

“Good to see you too, Katie.”

“So things are going well? Where’s J.R.?” Pops asked and I noticed Katie visibly stiffen. Luckily Pops hadn’t been looking in her direction, but Mary’s. My sister forced a smile, as she remembered what I had told her Dad said to me.

“He’s just busy studying with his friend for their finals. He said he wishes he could make it but this is super important,” she said and Dad and I exchanged glances.

“Sounds like his father. Oh well, we’ll see him at Christmas.” Pops shrugged and Dad quickly jumped in to switch his focus.

“Dean, how about we help Henry get unpacked?”

“Right,” Pops opened the trunk and grabbed a box, “show me to Henry’s room. Is he sharing with J.R.?”

“Yup, follow me.” Katie grabbed a smaller box and led Pops inside, leaving Mary, Dad, and I.

“God, I hate lying to him…” Mary frowned and Dad sighed.

“I know, I’m sorry. Just trust me, it is best your father doesn’t know until we know what is going on for sure.”

“But why? This just feels wrong.”

“Because of things from your father’s past. He doesn’t take well to things like this. He would… become very upset,” Dad said sort of vaguely before grabbing a box and following Katie and Pops inside, making it clear that this conversation was over.

“Anything?” I asked as I grabbed a box. My sister inhaled deeply and picked one up as well.

“We decided to wait until after Dad and Pops left to go to campus security but I did text Atlas and they said they could talk to us about what they know but… I told them to wait too.”

“But they do know something?”

“It sure seems that way,” Mary murmured as we walked inside, “let’s hope it’s something that will help us find him…”


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry, Mary, and Katie finally find out the truth behind J.R.’s disappearance, as well as the truth behind their families.

**P.O.V. Of Henry**   


Later that night after my fathers left, Mary, Katie, and I were going to meet J.R.’s friend Atlas at the diner Katie worked at.

“The diner is a cool halfway point between the house and the college,” Katie smiled over at me as Mary drove us in her car.

“Nice,” I replied, looking out the window, “I hope Atlas can help us find J…”

“Yeah me too…” Mary murmured. She pulled into the parking lot of the diner and we all went in. Mary and Katie looked around and I followed their gazes. I didn’t know what this Atlas person looked like and Mary had used “they” to refer to them so I had sort of made the connection that they were non-binary, therefore making it even harder to know what I was looking for.

“There they are,” Katie said and walked towards a table with a person with about shoulder length wavy blonde hair and a very focused expression as they were looking down at a laptop in front of them.

“Atlas,” Mary called out to them, but they must have had headphones in because they didn’t react. Mary shook her head and walked up to the table. Katie and I followed close behind and Katie waved her hand in front of Atlas’s face, causing the other to be startled and pull an earbud out of their ear.

“Earth to Atlas!”

“Jesus! Katie… don’t do that,” they groaned and Mary scoffed.

“We wouldn’t have startled you if you were paying a bit more attention,” Mary said as she sat down beside Atlas. Katie and I slid into the booth seat across from them.

“So… what do you know about J.R.? Do you know where he is? When did you speak to him last? We haven’t heard from him in too long...” Katie asked and Atlas took out their other earbud, closing their laptop.

“Whoa, whoa slow down. Listen… the last I saw him, we were studying for organic chemistry and he got a call on his cell. I had assumed it was from one of you or another one of your family members because when he went quiet and when he hung up, he said he had to go.”

“He didn’t say anything else?” Mary asked, a look of concern coming over her face.

“No… he just left. I assumed it was some family emergency and when I didn’t hear from him after a couple days, I texted him and he replied with this.” Atlas pulled out their phone and showed us a text conversation.

**A: Hey man, everything okay?**

**J: Yeah, sorry for disappearing on you. I had to go do something. I can’t talk about it right now but once I make sense of it, I’ll let you know. Thanks for checking in.**

“That… that’s so vague,” Katie sighed.

“I don’t understand…” Mary added.

“Yeah but guys I-” Atlas began but was cut off as a waitress approached the table with a smile.

“Hey guys, can I get you anything?”

“Hey Lana, can I get a coffee?” Katie asked and Mary gave her a look.

“It’s kinda late, you might not be able to sleep if-”

“Shh, I’ll be fine,” Katie cut her off.

“Okay, coffee… How about you Mary?” Lana asked and Mary shook her head.

“I’m fine thanks.”

Lana looked to me next and furrowed her brow slightly.

“I don’t recognize this one.”

“Oh, this is my cousin and Mary’s younger brother, Henry. Henry, this is my friend and coworker Lana,” Katie introduced us. Lana offered her hand to me and I panicked, going to shake hers too but my sudden movement caused my backpack to fall from where I had rested it in the booth next to me.

“Oh geez, sorry.” Lana bent down with me to help me, as the journal I had found in my parents’ basement had slipped out.

“No, no it’s okay, my bad.” I laughed, slightly embarrassed. She handed me the journal and I managed to catch Atlas’s face when he saw it.

“Nice to meet you. Did you want anything?” She asked and I shook my head just as Mary had.

“No, thank you,” I smiled, though I knew I needed to ask Atlas about their reaction. Why did it look like they had seen the journal before? Lana nodded and walked off. I put the journal down on the table and tapped it with my finger as I looked across to Atlas.

“You know what this is… how?” I questioned and Mary and Katie looked between us, confused.

“Wait what?”

“Yeah, how? That’s our father’s journal,” Mary added.

“No… it’s John’s,” Atlas replied.

“Huh? If it’s J.R.’s, what was it doing in our basement?” I narrowed my eyes but Atlas shook their head

“Not J.R. John… the first John Winchester.”

“Our grandfather?” Katie asked.

“How do you know?” I questioned, opening the journal and pointing to the initials imprinted on the inside of the front cover, “these initials are ‘H.W.’, not ‘J.W.’”

“That’s because the journal was supposed to belong to John’s father… before John took it. Henry Winchester, your great grandfather and the one you must be named after.” Atlas said, as they must have known we were all named after family members.

“How do you know all this? There’s no way J.R. that knew about the journal. I just found it earlier today in some old boxes in my dads’ basement…” I stared at Atlas, “so… what aren’t you telling us?”

The three of us gazed at Atlas expectantly as they looked around. Lana approached again with Katie’s coffee and Atlas spoke in a low tone once she was out of earshot.

“Listen to me… they never wanted you to find out like this but you need to know because I think J.R. might be in trouble,” Atlas reached forward for the journal and tapped it like I had, “everything in here… every last story of ghosts, demons, and other monsters, they’re all true. This was written by your grandfather, Sam, Dean, and Adam’s father. They all were hunters for years before you all were born.”

“Oh my God…” Mary murmured.

“Hunters?” Katie repeated, “like… they killed these things?”

“Well, your father didn’t get involved until maybe about five years before you were born but that’s a story in itself. Yes… they saved people from monsters. Your grandfather taught Sam and Dean everything he knew, then they taught Adam. J.R. and Lillie’s mother Eileen was also a hunter, it’s how she and Sam met.”

“This is…” Mary began but trailed off.

“Insane?” Katie finished.

“How do you know all this?” I repeated, more intensely.

“Because I am an angel and so are your fathers… Cas and Michael.”

“E-excuse me…?” Mary breathed out.

“My name is Arakiel, your father’s real name is Castiel and Michael-”

“As in… the archangel Michael? Are you serious?” Katie seemed equally shocked. Atlas, or… Arakiel looked at all of us sympathetically and if it wasn’t for the strange feeling I had in my gut, I may have just brushed off what they were saying.

“Oh my God…” Mary murmured.

“Well, God’s name is actually Jack. He is a nephilim, the son of a human and the archangel Lucifer.” Arakiel said.

“This can’t be real… J.R. has to be pinning us.” Katie whispered.

“No, I promise… I was assigned to protect you all whenever you went away from your parents. I can prove to you that I am telling the truth,” Arakiel’s eyes fell on me, “Henry… have you ever had things happen to you or around you that you couldn’t explain? Things moving by themselves or strange visions perhaps? Things that might cause others harm but not hurting you?”

“I… I don’t understand,” I said, trying to think back on some odd moments in my life that I had tried to write off in one way or another.

“When you were an infant, something happened… an accident in which you were gravely injured. In order to save your life, your father Castiel split his grace and gave part of it to you. As a result… your soul and the grace are intertwined, making you almost like a nephilim, though not completely of course. We were not quite sure to what extent you would have powers as you grew up and it was never clear to us until you were ten years old.”

“When I fell out of that tree and broke my arm…” I managed to get out, “except I felt no pain and when I tried to touch it, it healed like nothing had ever happened. My dad had run to help me and he saw everything.”

“Exactly…”

“Oh my God, Henry… you’re part angel. Holy crap, our fathers are angels…” Katie said in awe.

“Okay but what does this have to do with J.R.? You said that you thought he was in trouble,” I forced myself to shake off my shock to ask about my cousin, “and does he know about any of this?”

“Does he know that his best friend of five years is an angel?” Mary added.

“No, he has no knowledge of any of this. You see… there was a group of angels who, when they heard about what Castiel had done to save his child, grew angry with him. These angels held beliefs from a much older, more constrained time that angels and humans were not meant to mix, much less breed with one another. These angels had kept quiet when Jack became God, even though as I said, Jack was a result of an archangel and a human reproducing. They had kept quiet when Castiel and Michael decided to raise children with humans because it was under the condition that the children would be fully human. Of course, that changed when Castiel chose to save you, Henry. So, these angels became angry, as nephilims are powerful, frightening beings that at one time were slain just for existing. Having one take over the roll of God made most angels more accepting, though we all knew it didn’t make them any less dangerous. You may not have been created from the physical union of an angel and human but having grace put into your body does strange things. Surprisingly enough, there was no documented history of angels splitting their grace to save a human… not until you, that is.”

Hearing those words from Arakiel yet again shook me to my core. My father… an angel, had saved my life by giving me part of his own. I suddenly found myself wishing that he was there with me so I could thank him and then my ringing phone startled us all. I checked the caller ID, my father’s picture popping up.

“Dad, is everything okay?” I answered it, though I wanted to instantly spill everything I knew.

“Yes…” my father said, then cleared his throat, “I just… wanted to let you know that your father and I got home safely and I…”

He trailed off and I could tell there was something else he wanted to say. Before I could speak, Arakiel reached across the table and snagged my phone from my hand.

“Hey!” I exclaimed as Arakiel spoke.

“Castiel… it’s Arakiel. I had to tell them the truth. This situation with J.R.’s disappearance is dire. Come quickly, I believe that I know what is going on.” Arakiel said, then paused for a minute before looking around again, “yes, it’s safe. Come now.”

“Wait what?” I tried to ask but suddenly my father was in the booth beside me, much to my surprise, along with Mary and Katie’s.

“Dad?!” Mary exclaimed.

“Hello Mary, hello Henry… I’m so sorry you had to find out this way,” our father said before turning to look at Arakiel with quizzical blue eyes.

“What do you know?”

“Do you remember how Tamiel and his followers felt when they heard what you’d done to save Henry?”

“Yes I know, they disagreed so Jack cast Tamiel out and told his supporters that if any of them felt the way Tamiel did, then they could follow him out,” my father said and I struggled to keep up with everything.

“Okay wait a minute… so this Jack guy is God?” I asked.

“Yes… you see, when Jack took over, he rose all the angels up from the death so they could all have second chances under the pretense that they would follow a few simple rules: do what is best to make Heaven whole again and protect as we were meant to from the beginning. When Tamiel showed distaste for my actions in saving you, Jack told him that he had no issue with me choosing to do what I wished with my grace, as it was my own. Jack told Tamiel that as long as what I did would not bring harm to Heaven, he had no problems with it. Tamiel was unhappy with this and insulted Jack, calling him weak and foolish, accusing him of being biased due to the fact that he was a nephilim and quite close to me. Jack’s father and second in command, Lucifer, supported Jack in casting Tamiel down into Hell for Rowena, the ruler of Hell, to deal with. Jack gave Tamiel’s supporters the choice to follow Tamiel or stay loyal to Heaven. Most chose the latter,” my father explained and Arakiel nodded and sighed.

“Precisely but I have reason to believe that some of the angels chose to stay in Heaven even though they still agreed with Tamiel and now I think they have gone rogue and have captured J.R. because they mistook him for the one that Castiel gave part of his grace to,” Arakiel eyed my father with strong eyes, “they must have made the mistake since it doesn’t seem to be possible to sense your grace inside of Henry. There must be just the right amount to give him strength but not enough to make him detective on their radar.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa… so you’re saying that our cousin had been kidnapped by rogue angels?” Katie demanded and a shadow fell over my father’s face.

“That seems to be a good possibility, which means he is in danger. That also means that I can finally inform Dean. He and the others can help.”

“Castiel, you know as well as I do that your humans are getting too old to fight, that is exactly why they retired,” Arakiel said.

“Then how exactly do you suggest we get J.R. back?” Mary inquired and it was our father that answered.

“Dean, Sam, Eileen, and Adam may be too old to fight but now that you know about it all, they can finally train you in the art of hunting…”


	4. Chapter 3

**P.O.V. Of Dean**

_Sixteen years ago…_

The Christmas decorations around Sam and Eileen’s home were absolutely beautiful. I glanced away from where Adam and Michael were playing on the floor with the kids and looked across the room to the kitchen where Sam was washing dishes with a seven months pregnant Eileen drying them. I smiled softly, feeling that sense of comfort wash over me as I turned to look out at the falling snow outside. I would never get tired of that feeling of peace. No more fighting… finally, a normal life with the people I loved. With a family.

“It’s serene isn’t it?” The voice of Cas startled me a bit, as I hadn’t even heard him come up beside me.

“Dammit Cas, you know I hate it when you do that,” I sighed, though I reached over and intertwined his fingers in my hand that wasn’t holding my mug of spiked eggnog. Cas chuckled softly and I felt his thumb stroke the back of my hand.

“My apologies, Dean… I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Well… yeah, it is serene. I was just…”

“Appreciating the moment?” Cas asked when I trailed off in search of the right words.

“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it.” I glanced over to catch his gaze and he smiled at me.

“You do that a lot now… I catch you doing it often and it makes me very happy to know that you are happy.”

“Well, it’s nice to know that we can have normal, that me, Sammy, Adam, Eileen… that we can have a normal life, no drama, no crazy life threatening bull, ya know?” I sighed, watching the snow blanket the pavement that was only being lit by the streetlights.

“Yes, I understand. It’s quite nice to be free to do as I please too. Of course, Michael and I still do help Jack in whatever way he needs,” Cas said.

“Speaking of Jack, can he make it for Christmas tomorrow?” I asked and Cas sighed, shrugging slightly.

“I’m not sure. We can pray to him and ask if you… Dean, are you alright?” Cas seemed to notice my zoning out again. His hand squeezing mine, grounded me, though it didn’t completely help with the thought that had suddenly occurred in my brain.

“I… you remember djinns?” I asked and Cas furrowed his brow in concern.

“Of course, why do you ask? Do you really think all of this is a djinn’s false reality? I assure you, Dean… this is real. It has been this whole time. Those children are real… our children are real.” Cas turned and my eyes followed his gaze back to the living room where Sam and Eileen had joined Adam and Michael, Adam reading ‘The Night Before Christmas’ to J.R., Mary, Katie, and Henry. Eileen was signing along to them.

“Right… well I guess it’s just paranoia since there’s still a part of me that seems to believe this is all a dream.”

“It isn’t a dream, Dean…” Cas cupped my cheek and I sighed, leaning into his touch.

“Thanks Cas…”

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” I replied, pressing my lips to his.

“Daddy.” Cas and I broke apart and looked down at our almost three year old son.

“What’s up buddy?” I asked, grunting slightly as I picked him up.

“Want Freddie,” Henry answered.

“Oh, did we forget Freddie at home?” Cas wondered aloud as he stroked our son’s hair and Henry nodded.

“Yeah, want him for night night.”

“Okay,” I sighed, “we can go grab Freddie but when we get back, you and the others need to go to sleep or Santa might not come!”

“Noo,” Henry whined.

“Dean!” My youngest brother Adam called from across the room and I saw him and Sam shaking their heads at me. I chuckled and shifted Henry around in my arms.

“What? Okay maybe not. Let’s go.”

“Let me come with you,” Cas said and I nodded. We got Henry into his car seat and headed back to our house.

Our home was only five minutes away away from Sam and Eileen’s but suddenly, an animal jumped out in front of the car.

“Dean be careful!” Cas warned and I gasped, swerving to try and avoid it. My heart leapt up into my throat as I the car slid on the ice and snow, completely out of my control. I had a moment where time seemed to slow while we spun out before colliding with a telephone pole.

My ears were ringing when I came to, my vision fuzzy. I thought I could hear something. What happened? Where was I?

“Dean? Dean!” Cas’s voice sounded like it was a thousand miles away and underwater. Then suddenly, my pain was gone and I was looking at my partner’s wide eyes. He had healed me with his powers and I realized what had happened.

“What- we crashed… Henry!” I remembered our son in the back seat and quickly turned to look, my heart sinking at what I saw. Henry was covered in blood, his head drooping.

“Is he…?” I couldn’t even say the word and Cas frowned.

“I… I don’t know.” He opened his door and hurried to Henry’s. I did the same, watching Cas pull off his coat and take our son out, laying him down on his jacket to try and heal him.

“Can you fix him?!” I demanded, the panic rising in my voice. Cas touched Henry’s forehead but nothing happened. A determined look fell across Cas’s face.

“Dean, do you have a knife?”

“What-”

“A knife! I need a knife!” Cas said a bit firmer and I scrambled to the trunk of the car. I found a knife and gave it to Cas. My angel used the knife to slice his wrist deeply, wincing in pain. Confusion flowed through me as I watched the slight bluish white light that was Castiel’s grace come through the self inflicted gash.

“What are you doing?” I managed to ask in shock.

“What I have to do to save our son’s life,” Cas answered, voice gruff with pain as he let his grace float down into Henry’s mouth. I looked on with wide eyes as Cas managed to heal himself to stop the flow of his grace. After a moment, our son’s eyes popped open and he gasped before starting to sob.

“Daddy?”

“Henry…” Cas pulled him into his body, hugging him tightly, “it’s okay. You’re okay.”

I hurried over, falling to my knees to wrap my arms around both of them.

“Let’s get Freddie and get back to Uncle Sam and Aunt Eileen’s okay?” I told him, though looking back at Baby, I realized that wouldn’t be happening, at least not with her.

“I’ll uh… I’ll call a tow truck.”

* * *

_Eight years ago…_

It had happened so fast that I hadn’t even seen it. But Cas had.

I was looking out the window by the kitchen sink that looked to our backyard where Henry was sitting in one of the tall trees, reading a book. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was alright. Shouldn’t he be playing with the others? The older three had run off to play with their friends around the neighborhood but Henry never seemed interested. Even Sam and Eileen’s youngest, Lillie, was gone spending the night at her friend’s.

“You’re worrying about him again… I can see it in your face.” Cas’s voice startled me out of my thoughts and I dropped the sink I’d been washing back down into the soapy water before looking over at him.

“You’re just never going to stop sneaking up on me like that, are you?” I replied with my normal fire that Cas knew by now was really nothing but affectionate. My partner chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around my waist, putting his chin in the crook of my neck from behind.

“Henry is fine… I suppose he just found the gene from your DNA that is a bit more like your brother. There is nothing wrong with him liking the more studious activities,” Cas reassured me, pressing a kiss to the side of my face.

“I know, I know… I guess I just…”

“Dean… I know you worry about him. I do too, but I assure you that the grace is not any cause for concern… it’s been almost eight years and he hasn’t shown any sign of it even having remained in his system. I believe he’s fine.” When Cas said this, I sighed and turned my body around to face him, wrapping my arms around him.

“If you say so, Cas…” I said, leaning in to kiss him. I felt my partner smile against my lips.

“Dean, I think you’re getting soapy water on my shirt,” Cas began to laugh and squirm slightly, “hey, your hands are wet.”

“Yeah, doing dishes requires water,” I joked softly against his lips.

“You don’t say?” Cas pulled away and we appreciated each other’s eyes for a few moments until I saw Cas’s attention get pulled from me. He looked in the direction of the window, blue eyes wide.

“Oh no.”

The words came from his mouth and before I could even react, he was pulling away and headed for the back door. Confusion clouded my brain so it took it a moment to catch up.

“Cas wh-” I blinked, then turned to look out the window to see Henry sprawled out on the ground, his arm at a strange angle, “oh shit!”

I followed Cas outside but my partner was at Henry’s side before I was.

“Henry, Henry are you alright?!” Cas asked and our son sat up, a look of shock on his face.

“I… I fell,” was all he said, then I noticed that his arm looked normal once more. I blinked again, feeling almost as if I had been seeing things the first time. I watched, frozen on the back porch, as Cas helped our son stand and looked him over completely.

“Let’s get you inside,” Cas said, picking up Henry’s book that had landed in the grass beside him. It wasn’t until I felt them brush past me to get to the door that I was pulled from my state of shock.

“Dean, can I talk to you?” Cas called and I nodded, following them back inside. Cas led Henry to the base of the stairs and handed him his book.

“Henry, go up to your room and lie down for a bit, alright? I need to talk to your father.”

“But-” Henry was about to argue, his confusion still clear as day on his face. Once he saw his fathers’ faces, as mine was probably ghost white, he swallowed his words and nodded slightly. “O-okay yeah…”

“Don’t worry, everything is fine.” Cas reached forward and cupped Henry’s cheek with one hand, his other hand brushing our son’s messy hair across his forehead. Suddenly, our son’s fear filled eyes calmed and he smiled a bit.

“Yes Dad,” he replied and went upstairs. I waited until he was out of sight before grabbing Cas’s hand and pulling him into the living room.

“What the hell was that? What happened??” I demanded in a low but stern tone and Cas’s lips pressed together in a thin line.

“I blocked out the memory, I think it’s for the best.”

“No Cas, not just that… the arm! Henry’s arm! I saw it… there was no way it wasn’t broken.”

“I know, Dean, I know. I saw it too. I saw him fall. I… I think…” Cas trailed off before looking upward before speaking again, “Michael… something has happened. Come quickly.”

I didn’t have much time to ask more questions before my youngest brother’s partner and angel Michael appeared beside us.

“What’s going on, Castiel?” He asked and Cas explained the situation that had just occurred with Henry.

“I believe he was able to heal himself due to my grace in his body,” Cas finished and Michael stood in silence for a moment, taking everything in.

“Yes… just like when you first gave it to him. It seems that the grace has been lying dormant for these years because we have been unable to sense it,” Michael mused.

“Do you think that’s because it isn’t full blown grace?” I asked, my mind immediately pulling me back to the memories from not long after the accident. Jack had called Cas to Heaven and when Cas had returned, he had been quiet for a bit. After some coaxing, I had managed to get out of him that Jack had sensed the whole issue. In the months following, an angel by the name of Tamiel and his followers grew angry with Cas for what he had done, causing Jack and Lucifer to take Cas’s side and fracturing factions, casting Tamiel down.

“Do you think that Henry is safe from being detected by Tamiel or his followers?” I questioned and the two angels exchanged glances.

“I think Henry is safe, as Cas and I were unable to sense the presence of Castiel’s grace inside of Henry,” Michael spoke.

“But now that we know it has had lasting effects, it may start to present itself in more ways as he matures,” Cas added, much to my dismay.

“And? Does that mean someday he’ll know the truth? What can we do to protect him?”


End file.
